1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an arrangement for labeling a subassembly made of at least two parts in which the subassembly labeling includes a label put on each part, the subassembly including a first part and a complementary part with a label assigned to each part, with the first part having a recess arranged next to its label and the complementary part having its label in a position which, after the subassembly is put together, is located on the outside in both parts behind the recess of the first part.
2. Background Art
DE 39 28 270 C2 discloses a process for labeling technical devices manufactured in large numbers, for example subassemblies, each of which is made of at least two individual parts. For example, the subassembly may be made of a first part and a complementary part. The label of the subassembly, which itself is made of at least two individual label portions, includes a label portion which is arranged on the first part. The subassembly label is completed by another label portion assigned to the complementary part.
The first part and the complementary part are inserted into one another to assemble the subassembly. The first part is made in the form of a housing for the complementary part, and this first part has a window at the end of its label portion. The complementary part has its label portion located in a position which is behind the window in the first part after the two parts are put together. From the outside, the subassembly formed of the two parts then shows a completed label, which is composed of the label portion of the first part and of the label portion of the complementary part.
This previously known labeling system makes it possible, using a first part in the form of a housing, for example, for this part to be combined with different complementary parts to form different mass-produced subassemblies which can be distinguished from one another using the subassembly identification formed by the label portion of the first part and the label portion of the complementary part, without additional measures for identifying the subassembly. This document also discloses that a complementary part can be used for insertion in mirror-inverted housing parts serving as first parts, and for this purpose have a label or a label portion at positions that are correspondingly opposite to one another. However, this document does not disclose how variants of a subassembly formed of first and complementary parts would be made, and in particular, it does not disclose how different variants can be labeled with the previously known process without additional labeling measures.
Therefore, starting from discussed prior art, the present invention is based on the task of further developing an arrangement of the type mentioned in the Background Art in such a way that not only is it possible to make a variant, but that the different variants have different labels without this involving any additional measures.
This task is solved according to the present invention by the fact that the complementary part can be put together with the first part in at least two different spatial orientations to form subassemblies each having a different label, and that the complementary part has a different label portion at each of the complementary part""s positions in which the label portion can be located behind a recess or window in the first part after the subassembly is put together.
The subject of this arrangement involves forming different variants of a subassembly by matching the two parts to one another in such a way that the complementary part can be put together with the first part in different spatial orientations to form the variants. Therefore, to form two variants, for example, it must be possible for the complementary part to be put together with the first part in two different spatial orientations.
These two spatial orientations can be realized, for example, by making it possible for the complementary part to be put together in two spatial orientations which differ from one another by 180xc2x0. In this arrangement the spatial orientation of the first part remains unchanged. Thus, this arrangement also makes it possible to make different subassemblies, as variants for example, and to use identical parts for this purpose. This reduces not only the inventory management, but in particular also reduces the tools used to create the large number of individual parts which would otherwise be usual, and the associated tool costs.
To label the different subassemblies or variants, the complementary part has different label portions at each of several positions or in each of several areas. A respective label portion of the complementary part becomes located behind the recess of the first part when the complementary part and the first part are assembled together in one possible configuration to form a subassembly or variant. The respective label portion of the complementary part, which appears in the recess or window of the first part, together with the label portion of the first part represent the label of the subassembly or variant. That is, these two label portions represent the subassembly label. Another respective label portion of the complementary part becomes located behind the recess or window of the first part when the complementary part and the first part are assembled together in a second possible configuration to form a second subassembly or variant. The second label portion of the complementary part appears in the recess or window of the second part and with the label portion of the first part represents the label of the second subassembly or variant. That is, these two label portions represent the second subassembly label.
The described arrangement is most suitable for forming and labeling a subassembly for forming a part of an electrical plug-and-socket connector having a contact element housing and a locking part with its locking bar for secondary locking of the contact elements inserted into the contact element housing. These elements are produced in large numbers, and inserted differently depending on the situation. These subassemblies are frequently needed in two variants, and this depends on the coding of the contact element housing.